Crusaders Fall Short in the Start of the Westerlund Era

The Westerlund era for Crusader basketball opened up in exciting fashion. The Crusaders  were in a back in forth game all night with the Blue Devils from Lawrence Tech all night. Lawrence Tech was able to build a lead as big as 9 in the first half. Lance Adams was able to cut the lead to 6 right before the first half. In the second half the Blue Devils jumped out of the gates early and built the lead to 11. The Crusaders defense kept them in it all night. At ten minute mark Dillon Victor, Michael Hill and Chailen August entered the game and completely changed the tempo with the Crusaders high pressure defense which sparked a run from the home team. The Crusaders were able to tie the game with a little over four minutes to play. In the final four minutes the Blue Devils were led by seniors Ty Searles and Devante Myles as they scored tough baskets for the road team to close out the win. The Crusaders were led by Quincy Green 17 points 4 rebounds 4 assists 3 steals and 2 blocks while Michael Hill chipped in 12 points off the bench on 5/5 shooting.

Inside the Box Score:

• The Blue Devils 53% compared to the Crusaders 34%
• The Crusaders won the battle of the 3 point making 12/43 3's compared to LTU's 3/17
• The home team forced 22 turnovers for 12 steals
• The Crusaders were outrebounded 49-20 on the night

What Coach Says:

"I thought we played very well defensively. This was really a battle of tempo. LTU does not like to play fast and obviously we do. Our press clearly made them uncomfortable. We have some more work to do to clean things up but I thought our energy and effort level was there. We need to do a better job rebounding the ball. We are small but we can compete on the glass better. Ultimately we left some plays out there, and couple shots go down could easily be a different game. I loved what I saw from my team tonight. Coach Westerlund said this about his bench play, "Jaquin, Mike Chailen, and Dill were awesome off the bench. We closed the gap on LTU because of our second unit tonight. They really did a great job providing the spark off the bench for us."

What's Next:

Crusaders will take on Madonna University at home on Saturday October 27th. Tip off is scheduled for 3:00pm